Classic Poem

In days long past no happier ship than I
Flung forth her empire's banner to the breeze;
No bolder bark withstood a stormy sky,
With fiercer ardor fought the foaming seas.

But then at last a day of evil came
On which we met the onslaught of the foe.
Oh, who shall tell the story of my shame,
My desolation, my disgrace, my woe?

My hull was splintered by their bursting shells,
My tottering turrets down the deck were hurled;
I heard my dying seamen's shrieks and yells,
As red flames through the black smoke waved and whirled.

I saw my gunners fall beside their guns,
I saw my captain, sword in hand, drop dead;
Shot after shot struck down my splendid sons,
And splashed my bosom with a frightful red.

Ah, could I then have foundered in the flood,
And won the glorious death that waits the brave!
Could I have sunk, baptized in precious blood,
To endless honor in an ocean grave!

But no, they took me to their far-off shore,
And nailed their haughty standard to my mast;
I served my king, my fatherland, no more;
I fought the flag I bled for in the past!

So, like a Judas, I must sail the sea,
A traitor to the master loved so well;
A hated outcast, still I flee and flee,
Around me ocean — in my heart a hell!

And since that time, when days of peace have come,
I sometimes meet old comrade-ships I knew;
Ah, how they spurn me as they spurn the scum,
And pass me, shamed, and shrinking from their view!

Sometimes at dusk I hear my sailors call,
And see their hands up-beckoning from the deep;
" Oh, come! " they tell me, " show them after all,
Your faith, your honor, you will die to keep! "

God grant some night an awful storm shall rise,
And give me chance for vengeance on this foe;
How I should gloat to hear their craven cries,
As I should pitch to take them all below!

Then I should shout above their last wild yell,
" I bring them, sons, a sacrifice to you!
They lied who said I did not love you well;
O, darling sailor boys, my soul is true! "